Most cost effective shopping: Costco vs Whole Foods...etc...and what do you buy where?

[DeChRi]

In my town we have a few chain groceries and a local co-op natural food store. The local store is extremely pricey on most everything, compared to say, a Whole Foods. Within about 45 minute drive we do have a Whole Foods, a Costco, Sam's Club, etc. (No Trader Joes).

I am trying to segment out my shopping to be able to be the most economical and still get what we need without killing myself driving all over. What do you find are the cheapest places to buy:
-bulk whole grains
-organic milk (we don't do unpasturized, but do organic)
-cleaning supplies
-produce
-meat (we buy a grass/farm raised buffalo and pig each year and split with my folks, but we buy and eat boat loads of chicken straight from the store..hormone free, but that is it)
-organics eggs (this, along with meat, is our other sticking point. DH and I both bodybuild as our main hobby, so we both don't think twice about eating 6 egg whites each for breakfast....we go through about 3-4 dozen eggs/week.)
-supplements (vitamins, tea, etc)

While we dont eat much processed foods now, I would like to see about shaving off some dollars from our grocery bill by maybe making bulk shopping trips out of town, if the savings it there, so that I feel like I can shift some of those dollars to more organic eggs, chicken, etc.

We are working on a few nutritional changes, and this is one of our baby-steps.

Thanks,
J

[ollyoxenfree]

My personal problem with Costco is all the other stuff that's hard to resist. It's very hard to walk past the huge tables of discounted books and DVDs. When I visit, I'm always suddenly struck by the need for an extra pack of socks or office supplies or a great deal on garden equipment. I think I'm pretty good about resisting impulse buying, I always shop with a list, but I find the stuff in Costco almost irresistible for some reason. It's some combination of warehousing, discount pricing, tempting packaging (3 for 1 deals!), and some bulk-buying-motivating pheromone-type chemical they must pump through the ventilation system.

I've been avoiding Costco lately and I haven't really missed it much.

[annethcz]

So much depends on what the prices are where YOU live. If finances are the biggest concern, start a price notebook. Then you'll know for sure which ones are the best deals. And it will also help you decide if it's worth it to drive to the next town over just to save $x on a certain item.

For me:
-bulk whole grains I bought enough wheat berries to last me years from an online/mail order place. Rice I get at Costco, oatmeal is cheapest at the big grocery store.
-organic milk (we don't do unpasturized, but do organic) If I'm going to buy organic, I buy from a small local dairy. Otherwise I buy hormone free milk from the local gas station, because it's cheapest there.
-cleaning supplies I buy hand soap at Target, laundry detergent at a natural foods store (it's the only place I can get that particular brand), and other cleaning supplies so infrequently that I don't really keep track.
-produce It varies based on item. For example, I'll buy organic carrots at Costco, but I'll buy apples at the big grocery store.
-meat We raise chickens for meat and eggs. We buy beef in bulk from a local farmer. If we didn't raise our own chickens, I'd probably buy them from a local farmer as well. My preference for buying other meat is to buy from the local meat market/butcher.

[mumkimum]

What do you find are the cheapest places to buy:
-bulk whole grains We often pick these up at ethnic groceries (well, large bags of the ones we use the most often.)
-organic milk We don't buy this often, but in our area Costco has the best price I've seen
-cleaning supplies I get dish soap from Costco, order laundry soap online, pick up all-purpose soap concentrates at either Target on clearance or regular natural food store, and try to get misc. cleaning stuff at Big Lots.
-produce Our local grocery chain and the farmer markets give us the best price, Costco is second best (only for the items we can actually eat up though)
-organics eggs Our main reason lately for our Costco membership is actually for the organic eggs - it's the best price we've found in the area since they sell 18 eggs for the price of a dozen elsewhere.
-supplements Some of these we get through Costco, my dh gets a lot from the vitamin shop which we shop at locally now (though we used to buy through their catalog previously - they do carry some cleaning stuff like Dr.Bronners which we'd get at good prices at times when it was on sale, and other natural body care stuff).

[aztraea]

I think a price book is the way to go, but what a pain! Maybe make a list of items grouped by category that you absolutely buy all the time. I just went to BJ's for the first time to check it out. Wandered around with my notebook and felt like a spy I then went to Super Target and did the same thing. At some point, I'll check out WF and our regular grocery store, but only if DH can watch the kids!